Abyssal
by redwingblackbird
Summary: Parallel universe experiment. Raul, a dimension jumping human serving the elemental queen, is sent to retrieve the nine elemental spirits that split from Queen Yue's soul. Along the way he will be faced with obstacles and dangers unknown.
1. Chapter 1

Redwingblackbird: Now watch as I confuse the ever-loving crap out of all of you

**Redwingblackbird:** Now watch as I confuse the ever-loving crap out of all of you!

**Kathy:** Um, yay?

**Redwingblackbird:** Shut up! You're not even in this chapter!

**Kathy:** What?!

**Redwingblackbird:** In fact, clean slate. All you readers know won't come into effect until several chapters from now. Usual rules (one line timeskip, double line change of view and/or timeskip).

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--

"A hundred dead in Milan," the messenger droned on. "107,889 human injuries."

The queen nodded wearily. "Thank you, dismissed."

"Permission to speak, ma'am."

"Never needed, you know that."

"Why won't you let us actually attack the humans? Deaths instead of injuries-"

"Would have wiped them out entirely by now."

"Would have gotten their attention a long time ago. We wouldn't be in the fourth year of this war-"

"Dismissed." The queen's voice was sharp now, and the earth elemental glared before turning and leaving the throne room.

The queen, a young ruler at 23, sat wearily on the throne, head bowed. Her long platinum blonde hair hung on either side of her face and pooled in her lap. She dug her nails into the wooden armrests so hard her hands trembled from the force.

A hand rested on hers, stilling it.

"A hundred," she choked.

"I know," her companion answered.

"This war will be the death of me," she rose now and walked to a wide window that opened behind the throne, stopping but a foot from the glass. "I can hear them, Raul. Hear them screaming. All of them." She held her head and tried to hold back tears. "Why did I ever think we could make peace? How could I have thought in a thousand years the humans would want to coexist?"

"You can't blame yourself," he replied. "You played your pieces well, waited for the right time, and gathered the three of us to back you. It isn't your fault my kind want to control your people."

"The right time..." she said, looking out onto the silver lunar plane. "I wonder if it really was..."

"We wanted to reverse our mistakes six years ago. We had finally as a race come together, united. You made us an offer impossible to refuse- all you wanted was peace, and you'd heal the world we'd nearly killed. You'd even teach us to use our true powers."

She laughed harshly. "That 90 of the brain you wouldn't have used before." Still shaking from effort, she turned to face him, deep blue eyes accusing. "And the three of you? Who was I kidding?"

"You knew we could handle the truth," a second girl defended, stepping from the shadows. Her long blonde hair was pulled in a messy bun and framed her nearly white green eyes with its straying tails. "And it was a good plan. It worked for a while. Two whole years." She looked over her black-rimmed glasses to make sure her friend was listening. "It is only now that it seems a futile effort."

The queen returned to the window and looked to the Earth in the sky. "Now the humans see you as brainwashed traitors, and my people believe me to be weak and spineless, unable to even banish you from our renewed kingdom." She rested her forehead against the cold glass. "If they knew. If they knew I could end this war in a matter of moments..."

"Yet you will not fight," Raul accused, taking a step forward.

"There is no reason to kill troops, only the leaders forcing them to fight us-"

"How can you believe humans don't want to eliminate you as a whole? How can you tag this to a few leaders-"

"Raul," the other girl said sharply.

"Leira, don't stop me."

"You impetuous-"

"Leira," the queen interrupted. "Let him speak, it is his right. You are of the elementals now, you should have the right to speak against me."

"Yue..."

"I know, Raul, that the humans are tired of this war. They are willing to come to peace, but their leaders are not." She walked between her friends and continued down the few stairs that separated the throne's dais from the floor. She turned back to them at the bottom. "I have sent word to the human leaders that I will meet with them to talk of compromise. Their answer will return tomorrow. I will expect the two of you, as well as Mei, to be there to help me receive it."

--

--

"Surely there is something we can come to an agreement on," Yue sighed, rubbing her temples. She had insisted that the three of us come to the peace talks on the now-deserted Dark Moon with her. I sat on her left, Leira and Mei on her right. "Something we could do to persuade you to call off this all-out offensive against us."

"You have to understand, your highness," one of the human representatives began. I did not like him. He had a pointed face and oily voice and I would not- could not- be sure of anything he said. "We feel intimidated by you. That is why we felt inclined to try and dominate you four years ago. We have now come up with a solution that would put us at ease enough to call off our troops- allow us to live in peace. A compromise of sorts."

"By all means," our queen said. "What is this compromise?"

"You see, your highness," he continued. "If your powers were to be bound-"

"Out of the question."

"You are the Prism-"

"And so I cannot allow this."

"Precisely why we must demand it."

Yue sighed. "Give me a night to think this over. When we reconvene tomorrow I'll have an answer."

The human leaders stood, smiled their greasy smiles, and left casually. We exited with a more frenzied step the other direction, heading for our temporary quarters in the east wing of the palace.

"Okay," I started once we were out of earshot, "what the fck is going on?" The queen and Leira continued their march, ignoring me. Mei jogged along behind us, her waist-length braid flailing behind her, and saw my confusion mirrored on her normally cheerful face. "What's all this 'Prism' crap and how can you even consider their demands?"

They ignored my questioning until we reached our half of the once-used palace and slammed the double doors shut behind us. Then Leira turned on me. Even though she was two years younger and a foot shorter than me, in a temper she was always in control of an argument. Her white-jade eyes accused me as she nearly screamed.

"Why do you think she's the queen of all the elementals, you twit?!" she started. "How else can she control all the different elements- all NINE?"

"Leira," Yue barked, as though yanking on a leash. "I never explained this to him, or to Mei. Calm down."

She took a couple of breaths before twirling on her heel and marching toward her room. My queen leaned against the nearby black marble wall for support and a moment of silence passed before she began.

"When all things were created, and the Destroyer sealed in Hell, the Creator's power was divided like a beam of pure light through a prism. In this way He created things the way they should be- unique and special and basically good and pure. But knowing that at any time the Destroyer might break free, He created a warrior that could harness any of the nine elements as weapons. A warrior that was, in essence, His own weapon, for should the Destroyer rise, He could use him as a puppet, resealing the Destroyer at the cost of the warrior's life." I saw Mei's brown eyes widen as she played nervously with her matching braid, spidery tan fingers undoing and retying the bottom knot rapidly. "The warrior became king over the elementals, and his descendants- three queens- held the throne. I am now that warrior- whose title is the Prism- who watches over all things on Earth."

"Y-you can't be!" Mei exclaimed. "You're a light e-element!" Yue nodded.

"Primarily. But all the other eight answer to me as well, you know that Mei."

"You can't be." The girl was nearly crying now. "You're not religious enough!"

"Mei," Yue said softly now, "you knew I wasn't telling you the whole truth, you can read emotions." At this, our friend bolted to her room. The air hung still and silent between us for a few minutes before I spoke.

"You can't let them seal your powers."

"I may have no other choice. If this brings peace-"

"It's a trap. They'll probably kill you."

She shook her head, deep blue eyes closed. "No. It's a trap, but a fate worse than death awaits me." She looked out the open wall in front of us, out into space. She held the Earth and our Moon in her eyes. "But it is the only way."

"Why don't you just choose a king?" I asked at length. "Then your child would take on the responsibility." She shook her head again.

"Because I want to marry for love," she looked me in the eye, a sad smile gracing her lips, "And in some games, the only winning move is not to play."

--

Later that night, as I tossed and turned with my new knowledge, I heard her playing on her harp and knew she couldn't sleep either. I knew she would sit there in the middle of her room, harp on her shoulder, wings resting on the cool floor. The whole room could be frigid, but she wouldn't even notice, not even in her nightgown. Her white fingers would glide over the strings absently as her own thoughts twisted like a restless snake. I strained my ears to hear if she was singing.

But tonight she played a Chopin variation. A nocturne. A lullaby.

--

--

"The phantoms dance for you," Leira noted from the doorway.

"Do they?"

"As they always do. They seem to enjoy the company." I shook my head.

"Please, my friend. No more talk of ghosts. We have plans to make."

--

The next afternoon I found myself surrounded by nine circular mirrors in, of course, a perfect circle. My friends stood in the edges of the room as nine human "Sealers" filed in.

"I don't like this," Raul warned. I turned to look at him and was surprised to see his bright blue eyes dark with concern. I gave him a smile I hoped was reassuring.

"Trust me," I begged of him, "Everything will be fine." He nodded tightly, glaring at the Sealers suspiciously. I turned to Leira next. She too was glaring and gave me a curt nod. It was as we feared, but planned for. I nodded back. She knew what to do.

"If you're ready your highness..." one of them said. I faced front again and spread my wings wide, white feathers brushing the sides of the chamber. For a moment I saw them hesitate, but then a greedy gleam appeared in their eyes and they reached into their minds for their power as I built mental barriers around mine.

They opened their palms and set their hands straight in front of them, one behind each mirror. My barriers were torn down easily, much to my dismay, and I felt the world fell away beneath my feet. A ripping began at my core and split my spirit, but the pain was necessary, for otherwise all was lost.

I had a moment of excruciatingly clear thought that broke through all the pain. I was suspended above the floor. My friends were looking on in horror. Above the mirrors, nine beach ball-size orbs of pure energy hovered. I reached out to each, ensuring with the last of my strength they had the one thing they needed for this to work before sharply bringing my arms down to point at the floor. The spirits understood the order and dove, beyond the reach of the humans through the mirrors as though they were nothing more than holes in the black marble.

Truthfully, I never saw them go through- the world went dark after I sent them.

--

--

The scum were running for their lives, probably back to snivel at the feet of their masters.

"Yue!" I screamed and ran forward as Mei and Leira did the same. Leira took her pulse and demanded to know if I could carry her. I did so, following the Seer to a temple in the basement of the palace- a place with three sets of massive double doors that locked together seamlessly- a stronghold.

I set her down on a low bench inside as Mei locked the doors behind us. Leira took one of her hands and I wanted to run screaming from the scene, from what I'd witnessed.

"She lives," the Seer confirmed, "but only just. Her aura is gone completely- only her lifespark remains..." When we waited for her to explain, she did so: "Her aura, her soul's light that I can see- it's gone. She had to split her soul into the elements to change them to their spirit forms so they could hide once she released them into the Void."

I shivered. The Void was the space between spaces, the inky blackness all dimension jumpers dreaded.

"It was the only way," she continued, "to keep the humans from using her powers as their own weapons. They would have used them to end this war for the worse- and that _would_ have killed her. This way there is still hope, and there is still time."

Leira stood to face me and I stood a little straighter. "Go," she commanded. "Retrieve the nine element spirits. They will have found new hosts by now, people with a similar spirit to Yue's. Track them down and bring them back."

Momentarily I wondered why I should have to do this- Yue walked right into a trap, knowingly. Clearly, she and Leira had concocted this plan with that knowledge.

"If not to save her," Mei spoke up now, reading my face, her soft mousy voice carrying in the silence, "then to end this war. Restored to full power, Yue will have justified reasons for the slaughter of the human leaders."

"Cut the head off a snake-" Leira prompted.

"The body dies," I finished. I instantly felt horrible for thinking the way I had. Yue was my closest friend, and though she needed to learn something from this clear mistake, she didn't deserve to die. I looked at her one last time to burn the image in my mind: the angelic wings tucked close to her frail body; death-white skin and paler hair.

I turned to face the doors and gathered my cloak around me. Eyes closed and head bowed, I found my calm center, my Dream Pool.

And fell into the Void.


	2. Chapter 2

Redwingblackbird: Ok, so time for chapter 2

**Redwingblackbird:** Ok, so time for chapter 2. Hope you're still with me after I knocked yall on your arses.

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--

You'd never have known she was at school, the way she was sitting there. She had a copy of Fruits Basket 20 in front of her, blue headphones on, and a quill in her right hand she twirled deftly among her fingers.

For the first time, I was sitting next to her in class, after a year of casual glances from a distance. Her hair was shorter then- spiked in the back and combed over her left eye in front, though it just barely covered it. White hair, and deep blue eyes that turned to me when I entered the room.

She waved with her penned hand, then pointed to my name at the top of the desk behind her. She knew me? I got chills. I knew what they said about her: witch, Satanist, anime freak, lesbian. There was, indeed, a certain feyness about her, a fairylike shimmer in her eye. But her smile was friendly enough, I thought as I took a seat. As though she were genuinely happy to see me. She took her headphones off and let them hang at her shoulders.

"Hi, I'm Yue."

--

Floating in the Void is like an underwater dream. You can feel the crushingness of it pressing against every cell in your body, and your brain tells you not to breathe or you'll drown, but you do anyway, because you can and you have no other choice.

Except in those dreams you can see in front of you, at least an inch. In the Void you might as well be blind for all the good your eyes do you.

I swallowed down panic and searched out with my mind for a wormhole, a jump scar, an energy signature. Anything that would lead me to the right world. There were hundreds of billions, and I didn't have time to search each one. A few seconds lost here would be nothing in comparison.

And I felt... anger. Nothing else, just the emotion, floating in the inky blackness. I followed it and jumped where I sensed it had.

I fell, with no warning, into the world and landed flat on my back on hard earth. After I recovered my breath, I stood, but slowly, taking in my surroundings. There was nothing growing here- the sky was dusty and not blue, and the soil beneath my feet was nothing more than dust so packed it might as well have been bedrock. There was no sun in the sky, nor a moon, nor stars. It was not warm, it was not cold. The sky, on its own, it seemed, glowed softly with the same sickening light often associated with schools and hospitals.

I shuddered at this thought and looked about again for anything that may lead me in the proper direction, but there was nothing- only the flat plain of dust-rock that spanned on and on into the horizon, and beyond, I feared, forever. I began to panic, whirling around wildly for a sign of anything, anything at all.

Finally, I saw a blip on the horizon, hardly more than a spec. I headed straight for it, not even thinking. Any change would be relief.

I had gone a mile before I came upon the first body. He'd quite obviously been run through, and since he was one of the scumbags who'd done this to Yue, I left him there to rot.

I found a total of seven bodies in that condition, spaced out between my starting point and what I was aiming at. At last I could see what it was now- a dilapidated tower hardly two stories tall. It was falling apart, just barely standing, and each stone leaned against its fellows as if they found no reason to exist anymore.

It was here I found the eighth body. He was well on his way to returning to the well-tamped dust, as stinking and smoking and charred flesh clung tightly to his bones and the empty holes where eyes had once been stared blankly up at me. I paused only a moment before entering the tower, so relieved at the sight of these changes in scenery that I momentarily forgot the danger.

Groaning walls reached blindly toward the open ceiling. In the center of the cramped space knelt a girl who seemed more elf than human, but human she was indeed. Golden hair pooled around her and seemed to shine brighter than the sun after hours on that dreaded plain. A pair of perfect hands held a crystal sphere in her lap, and the truly blue skin she was cloaked in contrasted sharply with her yellow robe. Her eyes were closed and her head was bowed, and I wondered momentarily if she even knew I was there.

"So you have come as well."

"What happened to the others?"

"They too sought the fire spirit, and were found wanting." Only her lips moved, the rest of her was still as a statue. "As it is so easy to find the tracks of, eight of them came here first. Along the way they became suspicious of each other, and dropped by their companions' hands. The only survivor could not control the power within himself, as only the rightful receiver can, and was punished."

"You know why I am here?"

"I am all there is left of my own world, and all dimension jumpers, be they Copycats or Originals, could only be here for my charge."

A moment of silence passed between us, and, without warning, she lifted her head and opened her eyes. The spirit jumped out of her and sprang at me as a great lion made of fire. I hardly had time to take a step back before it had entered my mind.

For a moment, I was in physical agony, as though I was consumed in flame. The next, I was filled with uncontrollable anger- blinding rage such as I had never felt- toward anything and everything. My reason wrestled with the raw emotion Yue had given up for the spirit's self-consciousness- I had no reason to be angry, none at all. Still the silent waves beat at my skull with a passion- and suddenly I understood.

I aimed that passion at my quest, and felt the anger subside, taking with it all my fears and insecurities. Warm energy filled each cell and made my fingertips buzz.

I realized I had fallen to my knees and looked up at the girl. She smiled at me with relief, kind golden eyes gazing into mine gratefully. Her form was far more relaxed as she looked to the sky above.

"And so my task is done, Great One. You promised this would purge my wrongdoings and allow me to join you in heaven, so this world will truly end." Her soft voice was tired now, and she began to glow and rise. She held her crystal out to me, and spoke again.

"Thank you, Raul. You have indeed saved me. Please, take my dreamingsphere- it will serve you well."

With this, she faded to nothing, and the crystal hung suspended in the air. I carefully took it from its place, and almost immediately noticed the tower was collapsing. I hurried outside with no time to spare, watching the small shelter crumble.

As it returned to dust, the world seemed to sigh, as though it's final burden had been lifted.

"_That's quite a gift you hold, young one,"_ a deep voice growled behind my eyes.

I looked down at the orb in my hands and saw nothing but clear, smooth crystal. The strange light of this desolate world sparkled a myriad of colors in it's depths, and it was light, as though a mere glass bubble.

"But what is it?" I asked aloud.

"_In our world there are Dreamers- people who can manipulate dreams and use them. This world was much the same, and that dreamingsphere was a common tool here. When the world ended, that girl was trapped between Heaven and Hell, and so she was offered a mission that would save her. That sphere was her only possession she was allowed to keep to ease the torture of harboring me, and now it is yours to guide the way forward."_ I paused to take this in, but the spirit went on. _"You do not need me to aid you in your quest. Take me back to Yue."_

I decided I'd already had enough of Fire's frankness. I placed the orb in a pocket of my cloak and warped home, able to find the way without need of the Void.

--

I heard Mei's voice about a second before she dragged me into the light (my landings still left something to be desired for accuracy). "Leira keeps telling my Yue's gonna be fine but I can tell she's lying. You've gotta do something!" Her words blurred together, but I managed to follow well enough.

The lion in my head growled menacingly when the queen came into view. She looked more than half dead now, and Leira knelt at her side, one pale hand in both of her own.

Before I had any recollection of what was happening, the spirit leapt forcefully out of my body, taking my breath with it. In two bounds it had reached Yue, and hung suspended above her for a moment, roaring well enough to shake the near-empty Dark Moon palace to it's foundation as it lost it's consciousness and returned to a pure element and slipped into Yue.

The three of us froze as a trace of color (which was all she really ever had to begin with, just a trace) returned to her skin. Her breathing was still shallow, but steady, and Leira checked her pulse with a relieved sigh.

"Thank the Great Creator of the Sun and Moon!" she looked as though she'd collapse with joy. "She's going to live!"

I let a sigh escape me before asking, "She only needed the one?"

"To live, yes. She'll stay comatose, but she won't die." I nodded and let the release of tension sink into the floorboards (so to speak) before relating what I had learned of the human leaders.

Leira's eyes became chips of green stone behind her half-moon glasses. "There's still one out there, then. Our world, and any others he encounters, are still in danger." She stood and brushed the dirt from her jeans. "Not a moment to lose, Raul. Not one."

I nodded.

Gathering my cloak about me, I dove once again into the Void.


End file.
